V is for Vision

Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. Proverbs 29:18

What's your vision?

When I started CollegePlus, one of the first things they had me do was complete a little workbook called Life Purpose Planning. The purpose of that workbook was to help me find my purpose in life (goodness, this could have been the post for "P.")

It asked questions like:

What do you most enjoy doing when you have an hour of free time?
What are you naturally good at?
What areas do people typically ask you for help in?
If you could pick one job that you would never, ever, want to do, what would it be?

It was written to help students who are starting college to discover their interests, to decide which degree choice or field of work would be best for them, and to express what they wanted to do with their life. After the workbook was completed, it asked me to write a vision statement.

It felt a little odd, writing a vision statement for my life, but it really helped me to see more clearly what I wanted to do with it. And having a set goal made me feel less like I was wasting my life. More like I had a game plan. I wasn't drifting aimlessly with vaguely defined goals anymore.

I had a purpose.

What's your purpose, your mission in life? In other words, why are you here?

Answering this question is important not only for college but for all of life, and for all vocations and situations.

For college students, it's important to know what you want to do with yourself, with your life. You don't want to waste four years of college for a degree in a field you don't like and will never use. Know your purpose.

For writers, it's essential to have an idea of why you're writing. And this is not about audience - who you're writing for. It's about the reason you pick up a pen each and every day and put words on paper. It's about the goal you're working towards. Why choose writing over any other field of work? And what do you want to accomplish by writing? How do you want to be remembered? Why?

For bloggers, this is also a question you can ask. Why am I blogging? Who am I blogging for? Does this blog convey the message I want it to convey? Writing a vision statement for your blog might be a good idea if you're struggling with finding your message.

And of course, for anyone, regardless of age or interest, it's good to think about why you're here. I understand, however, that the answer will be different for those (like me) who believe that they were placed on this earth by an omnipotent and loving God, and for those who believe they are the product of a cosmic accident.

I believe the only true way, the only true purpose in life is that which glorifies God. That not only influences my vision, it is my vision.

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me save that Thou art.

- Eleanor Hull

Have you ever written a vision statement? If you could write one, what are some goals you would include in it? Do you feel like you have a vision for your life? For your writing? For your blog?

Let me know by commenting!

N is for Naming

Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

- Philippians 2:9-11

Names are powerful.

What's in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.


- William Shakespeare

In a way, Shakespeare's right. Roses could be called "ferns" but they would still smell like roses. But we don't define roses by how they smell. We define them by what they are.

To name something means to own it. When you name pets or cars or electronics, in a way they become uniquely yours.

Remember that scene in Annie when the cop says "if he's your dog, call him"?

Once Annie calls Sandy by his name, Sandy becomes her dog. She owns him.

In a similar way, when writers name their characters the characters stop being nameless, faceless creatures and become more fully realized, living, breathing people.

I think naming characters is one of the most time consuming and the most fun parts of writing. I sometimes spend hours agonizing over a character's name, looking at meanings, at rhythms, at sounds.

Something I find helpful to use is the random namer. Even if it doesn't show me the name I want, it gives me ideas for what I don't want.

I recently used the random namer while I was looking for a name for a girl in my WIP. It brought up the name "Austine."

I don't know why, but that name really struck me. It's a little out of the ordinary, and I like names that are a little out of the ordinary. So Austine is my new favorite name.

Sometimes the characters walk into my head already named, but often the meanings surprise me.

My MC of my WIP is named Simon. One of his flaws is that he's afraid to speak up; people don't listen to him. He came already named, and I'd never bothered to look up the meaning until recently.

I discovered that Simon means to hear, to be heard.

Coincidence? I think not.

My name has connotations of honor and victory of wisdom. I like to think that has relevance for my life.

My middle name (Marie) means "sea of bitterness." Perhaps I will triumph over bitterness to achieve the victory of wisdom? I don't know what God has in store for my life.

But I do know the one name I have that has eternal significance. I am a Christian, endowed with the name of Christ, that name that is above all names.

And of all the names there are, His is the only one that really matters.

What does your name mean? Do you believe your name has any special significance to your life?

Are there any names you especially like? Why is that?

F is for Friday

Before the darkness, cold and dead
Was banished by the burning red
And yellow light
God knew
And called it good

Before the waters, deep and dark
Were shaped into that mighty arch,
The firmament
He saw
And called it good

Before He set the stars in place
The galaxies of swirling space
And frozen time
He chose
And called it good

Before He, with His awesome hand
From dust created the first man
And gave him life
He planned
And called it good

He knew the day that He would die
Would suffer and be raised on high
Outstretched against the burning red
And yellow sky
That He had made

He knew for He had planned the day
This Friday
That we call good.

What does Good Friday mean to you? Is there anything special you're planning?

Speech of the Day: On Humor

I'm taking a Rhetoric class with Veritas Press, and recently we were assigned to do encomiums on (speeches in praise of) some abstraction or virtue as part of our speeches of the day. It was supposed to be written out beforehand, and then we were to read it out loud in class. The time limit was ten minutes, but the speech could not go below seven minutes and thirty seconds.

The speech I wrote is only about a thousand words, so the night before I gave it I rehearsed it over and over to try to get it above seven minutes. I kept coming in at six minutes and thirty seconds. Finally, after at least four times reading it, I got it to stretch out for seven minutes, fifty-six seconds.

The next day, in class, I had a timer going the whole time so I could see how long I was taking. I had read about three quarters of the speech when I realized that I still had three minutes left if I wanted to get it to eight minutes. I started to panic a little. But I was coming up on the second longest paragraph, so I read that one incredibly slowly (probably slower than I needed to). It must have taken about two minutes to read, because after I finished it I only had a minute left. I came in at a little over eight minutes.

And today I got my grade back: 100 %!

I've included the speech text below. I chose "humor" as my subject.

The Hunger Games

Usually I review books on Goodreads and then click the "post to blog" button. But this book is special enough that it deserves its own post.

It seems like everyone has been doing a review on the Hunger Games lately. Here are just a few I've come across:

Rose at Read Room

Josiah from Biblical Beginnings

A guest post at Scripts, Scribbles and Such

I'm still waiting for Daniel's review (which I believe he promised us).

It's also the most read book on Goodreads right now.

The Hunger Games was first recommended to me by my friend Micah. She's a huge Doctor Who fan, so I knew I could trust her on sci-fi recommendations. Then I read Rose's review, and then my mom downloaded the ebook, and I knew I had to read it. Besides, I wanted to see the movie when it came out in March, but not without reading the book first.

I got three chapters into the book and put it away for a couple of days. I mean, the first sentence isn't exactly thrilling.

When I wake up, the other side of the bed is cold.

Also, the fact that it was written in first person present was a major turn off for me at first. But I was determined to read it, so I plowed through the next five chapters.

And then I was hooked.

If there's one word to describe this book, it's suspenseful. There is almost no way you can't read it in one sitting.

From the moment the tributes enter the arena to begin the Hunger Games, the action is nonstop. I stayed up much too late flipping each page quickly with no thought of putting it down. There were several heart-stopping moments (no, no, no, this can't be happening!) and almost the entire part of the arena is edge-of-your-seat action. At some parts I remember thinking (my heart pounding) how on earth is she going to get out of this? Or, run, Katniss, run!, or oh no, they're coming!


And when I say it's edge-of your-seat thrilling, I do mean edge-of-your-seat. Like, if you go watch the movie then expect to fall out of your chair. I just know there's going to be at least two or three of those parts where everything goes quiet before someone jumps out of the bushes. I will scream.

But back to the book. It's a hard book to review, because there's really not much you can say without giving the plot away. I can say it was suspenseful, and it was thrilling, and I didn't really like Katniss until the end, and that I liked Peeta from the beginning. That it's excellent storytelling, and that I could see everything that was happening so clearly that I'm excited to see what the movie portrays it as. Actually, from what I've seen in the trailer, it looks very close to what I imagined.

But I think that, without giving it away, I can also talk about the violence. I knew from the premise (twenty-four kids get stuck in an arena and are forced to kill each other) that it was going to involve death. I guess I just didn't expect how much there would actually be. We don't see every one of the tributes die, but the ones we do see are either very sad or somewhat gruesome. Katniss is not cold or callous to the deaths, which is good, although having grown up watching the Hunger Games, like she has, I don't quite see how you couldn't be.

Of course, there's the dilemma of the morality of killing to stay alive. There can only be one winner of the Hunger Games, which means every other contestant is an enemy. Everyone must be dead for one to live. It's this kind of suspense that drives the book. Everyone's out to get Katniss. It also left me thinking - what would I do in this kind of situation? Most likely I would try to hide somewhere until everyone else had been killed. I don't think I could kill anyone. Not even to win.

With the dilemma in mind, I liked the theme that Peeta brings up.

      I want to do something to show them [the Capitol] that they don't own me.

What's interesting is that the whole point of the Hunger Games is for the Capitol of Panem to show the other districts that they are in charge. That they can murder their children any time they want, and they enjoy watching them die. That the districts should not, and cannot rebel. It's almost an Assyrian way of government.

Most likely in our lifetimes, civil disobedience will never bring as grave consequences as the one the children in the Hunger Games faced. But it's good to ponder what we would do if we had to face such a choice - conscience against survival. We are not owned by the government. As Christians, we are redeemed by the blood of Jesus, and our citizenship is in Heaven. We cannot serve two masters, and to fully serve one we must sometimes disobey the other, insofar as their decrees contradict those of our true masters.

It's good to think of in the light of the recent contraception mandate controversy. Here are Catholic Bishops who would rather disobey the government then violate their consciences. It's sad, because it should not happen in a country that values religious freedom. We've been blessed to be free from this kind of tyranny. But if it does come to that choice, if we do have to choose between obeying the government and doing what we know to be wrong, or disobeying and risking the government's wrath, I hope we're prepared for that choice. The Hunger Games, though it never provides a direct answer to that question - what should a right thinking person do in that situation? - is a good start to thinking about and pondering this dilemma.

I haven't read the entire series yet - I'm still trying to find a copy of Catching Fire, the second one - so I can't comment on the trilogy as a whole. But I can recommend the first one. It's a thrilling, suspenseful read, and a thought-provoking one as well.

(You can read my review of Mockingjay here.)

If you still aren't convinced that you should read the book, then watch this trailer. It's very well-done, and just might change your mind. Oh, and the actor who plays Gale is the younger brother of Chris Hemsworth (Thor!)

Trinity Arts Festival

This year I entered a couple of poems in my church's annual arts festival. One of them is kind of gloomy. The other is a rewrite of the song Mad World.

One of the requirements was that each piece had to have a short description by the author. This is what I wrote for the first poem, Adeste.

I started this poem with the idea of a paradox: what if a person felt extremely cold in the middle of one of the hottest places on earth? Why would this be? Then I had the idea that maybe it was a spiritual feeling, rather than a physical one. As I wrote the poem, I began to realize that the struggle between the speaker and the elements represented the inner turmoil of a sinner who has just begun to realize that salvation comes from God alone. The last two lines tie in the theme of helplessness without God.

Since Adeste is rather long, I'll save the other poem, Green World, for another post.

Adeste

Shivering

Silently

In the wide, barren wasteland 

So yellow and orange

The cruel sun - unmerciful sun!

Which struggles to warm me;

I cannot be touched

My heart is like ice

The wind whips by around me

Brushing my face

Touching my hand 

Striving to warm me

It is all hot air

I cannot be touched

Shuddering

Quietly

They call this a desert

I cannot get warm

They call a city crowded

I have stood in one

So lonely, so lonely

I cannot be touched

The fine grains of sand

Sinking beneath my feet

Carry me gently downwards

Hardening beneath my weight

So have I been

Sinking, drifting downwards

Hardening my heart

My heart that is ice

Save me

O sun

If you can

Warm me

O wind

If you will

Carry me away

Soft sand

Even though

I will never get warm

I will sink into oblivion

Unless Thou comest quickly

Unless Thou comes to free me

Red

I just read T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land and thought I'd try my hand at some more abstract poetry.

Red, the richest color
The deepest, the truest
The color of blood, of love
Of sacrifice
Of all the deep emotions known to man
Of pain
And fire
Of hearts ripped in two
And two hearts bound together

Lord, let me be deep like that
Let me be crimson deep
Inspire in me
The fiery red of passion
To be
A grateful slave to
The deep and wild
Fierce bittersweet rushing
Wondrous love
The endless reservoir
Of Your grace